Level Up! : The Guide to Great Video Game Design

9780470688670

047068867X

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Summary

Want to design and build cutting edge video games? Not sure where to start? Or just want to tweak the projects you're already working on? Then this is the book for you!Written by leading video game expert Scott Rogers, who has designed the hits; Pac Man World, God of War, Maxim vs. army of Zin and SpongeBob Squarepants. This book is full of Rogers' wit and imaginative style which demonstrates everything you need to know about designing great video games.Level Up! has been written with all levels of game designers in mind. From beginner level through to the more experienced game designer.It covers the entire video game creation process, allowing you to learn: How to develop marketable ideas What perils and pitfalls await them during a game's pre-production, production and post-production stages Creative ideas to serve as fuel for your own projects from game theme and environments to gameplay mechanicsAll in all it's an indispensible guide for video game designers both 'in the field' and the classroom.Other topics covered: Understanding what gamers want Compelling character design Working with player actions Techniques for non-human characters Camera techniques - the camera as a character Designing UI and HUD Use level design to tell game's story What game designers can learn from theme parks Combat, puzzles and game mechanics Fun and UNFUN How to make the world's greatest Boss battle (and why not to do it)and tons more - including the business of design, creating design documents, the pitch and more. The book also contains templates to create your own pitch and design documents.

Table of Contents

Foreword

About the Author

Press Start!

Acknowledgments: Everything I Learned about Writing a Book

Welcome, N00bs!

A Brief History of Video Games

Game Genres

Who Makes this Stuff?

Programmer

Artist

Designer

Producer

Tester

Composer

Sound Designer

Writer

Have You Thought about Publishing?

Product Manager

Creative Manager

Art Director

Technical Director

And the Rest . . .

Level 1's Universal Truths and Clever Ideas

Ideas 23

Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where to Stick Them

What do Gamers Want?

Why I Hate "Fun"

Brainstorming

Breaking Writer's Block

Level 2's Universal Truths and Clever Ideas

Writing the Story

The Triangle of Weirdness

Time to Wrap It Up

Creating Characters

A Few Pointers on Writing for Kids of All Ages

Writing for Licenses

Level 3's Universal Truths and Clever Ideas

You Can Design a Game, But Can You Do the Paperwork?

Writing the GDD, Step 1: The One-Sheet

ESRB Ratings

Writing the GDD, Step 2: The Ten-Pager

The Rule of Threes

Ten-Pager Outline

The Game Design Document (and the Awful Truth about Writing Them)

Gameplay Progression

The Beat Chart

Above All, Don't Be a Schmuck

Level 4's Universal Truths and Clever Ideas

The Three Cs, Part 1-Character

Personality: Do We Really Need Another Badass?

Let's Get Personal

Finally, We Talk about Gameplay

Why Walk When You Can Run?

The Art of Doing Nothing

Might as Well Jump

Hoists and Teeters

What Goes Up, Must Fall Down

Me and My Shadow

The Water's Fine… or Is It?

Be Kind to Our Four-Legged Friends

Using All of the Parts

We Are Not Alone

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Level 5's Universal Truths and Clever Ideas

The Three Cs, Part 2-Camera

Get It Right: Camera Views

First Person Camera

Third Person Camera

Giving Up Control

So You've Decided to Let the Player Control the Camera

So You've Decided to Not Let the Player Have Control Over the Camera

So You've Decided to Let the Player Sometimes Have Control Over the Camera